Lisa Mezzacappa's Bait & Switch

Brawny and brainy new out jazz from some of the scene's most accomplished and passionate players ... It had been a long time since I had heard anyone follow up on the sophisticated traditions of the seventies' AACM / loft jazz scene with such dedication and focus.
- Myles Boisen's "Top 10 of 2008," Transbay Creative Music Calendar

"The work of San Francisco bassist-composer Lisa Mezzacappa demonstrates an admirable balance of grit and whimsy ... "
- Time Out New York, March 2009

"Keep watch of bassist Lisa Mezzacappa."
-- San Francisco Chronicle

"She's a musical explorer, experimenting with both improvisation and composition, and lending her talents to a wide range of projects. She's also an established musical curator, leading us to believe that this tribute to her own free-jazz heroes will be a well-cultivated mix."
--Flavorpill SF

Lisa Mezzacappa is a double bassist, composer, collaborator and musical instigator. Her music lives in the intersection of improvisation and composition, and her projects often integrate improvisation-infused composition into public spaces and cross-disciplinary works. She studied bass with Michael Formanek and Peter Spaar, studied improvisation with Henry Threadgill, Steve Coleman and John D'earth, and has workshopped with the Sun Ra Arkestra, Bob Moses, Art Baron, Meredith Monk, Terry Riley and David Murray, among others. Lisa has performed at countless Bay Area venues including Intersection for the Arts, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, SFMOMA, and the de Young Museum, San Francisco; as well as the Earshot Jazz Festival, Seattle; and the Montreal Jazz Festival; Canada.

Lisa has been artist-in-residence at Djerassi Resident Artists Program (2008), Headlands Center for the Arts (2006), the Banff International Jazz Workshop (2000), and the Painted Bride Arts Center (2000). She holds an MA in ethnomusicology from UC Berkeley (2003), and a BA in music from the University of Virginia (1997). Lisa has been awarded grants from American Composers Forum, the City of Oakland and Meet the Composer. She currently performs in nearly a dozen original jazz, pop and chamber ensembles in the San Francisco Bay Area, where she lives.

Bait & Switch is Mezzacappa's rollicking garage jazz quartet, playing original music inspired by adventurous jazz masters like Ornette Coleman, Henry Threadgill, the Art Ensemble of Chicago and Eric Dolphy. The music funnels free jazz energy and collectivity into finely honed minimalist compositions that exploit the group's amazing chemistry and fierce sense of groove.